Clothes-pin.



I Y 64/zMM4 E. A. NORMAND. CLOTHES PIN. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1911.

Patented Nov. 19,1912.

WITNESSES INVENTORK ATTORNEY Y Specification 6r i'lettt'rs Patent. alication filed November 6, ism; serial no. eraser.

enter new, raters.

- To all whom it may concern:

- mediate the ot Be it known that 1, En 1 A. Nomuhrm,

a citizen of the United Stas, residing atv San Francisco, in the countyof San Francisco and State of California, have inventednew and usefulImprovements-in Clothes- Pins, of which the following is aspeclfication.

The objectof my invention is to prov1de a clothes pin of very cheap,simple, strong, and durable construction, which Wlll securely holdclothes to a clothes line, will occupy but little space when not in use,and a large number of which can be safely packed in small compass, andwhich can be used equally well when reversed end for end, and

on either side of the clothes line.

in the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a side view of my improvedclothes pin, showing it in use on a clothes line; lfig. 2 is en ode orside of the pin. Ester-ring to the drawing, 1 1ndicates my improvedclothes pin, which is preferably made of wood as being the cheapestmaterial suitable for the pose but may be made of ime any suitablematerial. It is formed of uniform thickness and with fiat sides 2, 3,and straight parallel edges 4 and 5, and it is of considerable width inproportion to its thiclmess. Two recesses 6, 7, are formed therein, bothopening outward through one edge 5. The recess 6 is circular in form,while the recess 7 is elongated but with circular ends, and is slightlywider than the recess 6 The parts of the clothes pinwhere said recessesopen into the edge 3, are in the form of acute angles, with somewhatblunt apexes, thus forming tongues or hobhs 8, 9, the angles of thetongues 9 being more acute than those of the corners 8 The mode of useof my improved clothes pin is as tollows: 'lhe clothes having beenplaced over the clothes line, shown at 10, the clothes pin is heldsomewhat oblique to the clothes line and is passed thereupon so thatportions oi the clothes and clothes line are received within the recess6, and the adjacent terminal portion 11 of the clothes pin is on oneside of the clothes line, while the ortion 12 is on the other side.Maintainmg the recessed portion 6 in engagement with the clothes andclothes line the other'terminal portion 13 of the clothes pin is thenmoved toward the clothes line, the extreme end thereof being raisedsufi- ---terminal portion,

view thereof- Fig. 3 is a view of .m consequence the device ciently toenable it to pass over and" just clear the clothes line with (theclothes thereon, still keeping the mediate portion 12 of the clothes pinon said other side of the line, and pressing said mediate portionagainst the hue to bend it, so that the terminal portion 13 of theclothes pin passes to the same side of the line .asthe portion 11. Saidterminal portion 13 is then pushed down on the line, so that the clothesand clothes line are contained within'the recess 7. In this position theclothes are held to the clothes line very securely by the clothes pin.

1' deem it necessary to make the mediate portion 12 of the clothes pinconsiderably longer than either terminal portion 13., and in factsubstantially twice as strong as either since it has to withstandthe'same strain of the clothes line at the one side, which the twoterminal portions withstand at the other side.

important feature of my invention consists in the acute-angled tonguesor hooks, 8, 9. lThe urpose of these tongues is to retain the clot-espin securely upon the clothes of each recess in directions pointin'toward each other, I am enabled to provide means for retaining theclothes pin upon the clothes line which do not project beyond the sidesof the clothes pin, thereby enabling the clothes pin to-be made at avery low cost, for it is. thereby rendered possible to form theseclothes pins out of a long and narrow block of wood, by first tong insaid block longitudinal grooves, the transverse forms of which are thoseof said recesses 6, 7, and then cutting the block transversely intostrips of the "re uired thichress. Moreover, by reason 0 these tonguesor hooks being syetrical relative to, opposite sides of the clothespins, said clothes pin can be used equally well on either side of theclothes line and it is therefore not necessary to adjust the same in thehand when applying it to the clothes line.

I thus provide a clothes pin having the following properties which Iconsider es sential for the commercial introduction of an'article ofthis character 1) It is made of a single piece; (2) the whole of theparts are contained between two parallel planes, in which are the twosides of the clothes pin; can be made ve cheaply; and a large number ofthese devices can be packed in a very small compass, with- By formingtongues on opposite sides I claim A clothes pin formed of a single pieceof.

wood ofconsiderable width in proportion to its thickness, and having itssides in parallel plane surfaces and with parallel longitudinal edges,and comprising two terminal portions and a mediate portion separated byrecesses, each recess having circular ends and one being longer than theother, and the mediate portion being longer than either terminalportion, through which recesses can be passed a clothes line, bothrecesses having contracted entrances opening in one longitudinal edgethereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ERNEST A. NORMAND.

Witnesses Framers M. WRIGHT, N. B. KEATING.

